You already know social media marketing is a channel that can drive traffic and sales, but the question is: are you actually seeing an increase in traffic or sales?

Chances are you are not. Why? Because you are using obsolete tactics that aren’t effective anymore.

If you want to change that, just avoid these 7 strategies:

Obsolete tactic #1: Posting whenever you’re free

Posting daily or whenever you have time isn’t ideal. Why? Because your followers may not be online when you are posting.

That means no one is going to see the content you are promoting.

Simply Measured has some free tools that show you when you should be posting. It will analyze your user base and tell you the days and times the most optimal for engagement.

Here is an example report for Instagram:

Once you figure out the ideal days and times you should be posting, sign up for Buffer (free), and start scheduling your posts.

Facebook posts are the exception. If you schedule them, you’ll see your share and like counts drop. Instead, you’ll have to post on your Facebook profile yourself and schedule posts through Fan page by clicking the clock icon.

Obsolete tactic #2: Selling directly to your audience

Once you have a big following, you’ll want to start convincing them to buy whatever you are selling. But just posting a link, telling your followers to buy your book, product, or service, won’t do much for you.

The only time I’ve seen it work is when a sale or a discount is offered, which isn’t an ideal scenario.

What you need to do is drive your social media fans through a funnel. First, collect their emails, and then offer your products or services through email.

A good example of this is Josh Flagg. He started driving people to a blog, where he collected emails. Within a few months, he collected just over 2,000 emails.

He then launched a webinar course for $499 dollars, and within 24 hours, he made $12,974 in sales. When he promoted his webinar product directly to the group, he didn’t even generate $1,000 in revenue.

Obsolete tactic #3: Trying to game your follower count

I’m continually seeing people follow thousands of users in order to build up their accounts on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Some people even go as far as buying thousands of fans. The big numbers may make you look cool, but they will eventually hurt you.

Why? These social sites are getting smart at analyzing how many of your followers are actually engaging. And if the ratio is poor, your content won’t spread much, which will cause you to get less traffic compared to having a smaller fan base that actually engages.

So, instead of trying to game the system, start looking at your competitors. See what types of content they are posting that causes engagement. Test posting similar types of posts. And avoid posting content that doesn’t get likes, comments, or shares.

Obsolete tactic #4: Sharing without optimizing

Sharing content from your site isn’t as simple as copying and pasting your URL on a social site. If your website code isn’t optimized for social media, you’ll notice that when you share your content on these sites, no images appear:

The difference is huge. When I implemented this on Quick Sprout, my Facebook traffic went up by 174%.

Obsolete tactic #5: Being self-promotional

I started participating on social sites because I wanted to grow my brand, traffic, and sales. I didn’t really care about anything else, and people saw it.

People started to unfriend and unfollow me, and I wasn’t getting any social traffic. But once I started sharing other people’s content, answering questions, and just helping people out, I quickly noticed that I started to build a loyal following.

The loyal following eventually converted into traffic and sales once I started to build a funnel similar to Josh Flagg’s. But when I was just being self-promotional, I didn’t generate one sale.

Make sure you help people out, answer their questions, and share content from others within your industry. You don’t have to promote competitors, but you should be promoting news and content sites.

Obsolete tactic #6: Linking directly to someone’s site

When you share someone else’s link, you are driving traffic to their site and generating no traffic in return. That kind of blows.

What if I told you that every time you promote someone else’s site, you can actually drive more traffic back to your site?

There is a cool social tool called Sniply, which puts a promotional box on any site you share.

When you drive traffic to others, there is a chance that some of those visitors will come back to your site.

Obsolete tactic #7: Adding one too many social sharing buttons to your site

If you want people to share articles on your site, what do you do? Add social sharing buttons to your site, right?

But did you know adding one too many social buttons to your site can hurt your traffic? I tested placing 3, 4, and 5 different social media options on Quick Sprout. When I reduced the button count from 5 to 3, I was able to increase my click-through rate by 11%.

So, instead of treating your site like Nascar and promoting every social site out there, focus on just 3. Pick the sites that resonate most with your readers. Chances are it is going to be Facebook, Twitter, and one other social site.

And if you are wondering what kind of social buttons you should be using, try the plugin Flare. It’s flexible, it looks pretty, and it’s free.

Yes, you. Promoting a blog takes work, and it’s work that only you can do. So make sure your content is on point. Create original images and use them intelligently. Build relationships and a loyal audience. Get personal. Leverage Twitter and other social media platforms to maximise visibility, engagement and sharing.

And most importantly: make it happen. This visual from Referral Candy features nine powerful blog promotion tactics from top marketing experts.

My clients are always asking me “What is the best social media channel” and I always answer the same, “the one that works best for you. Truth is that not all social media channels are the same, just as not all businesses are the same. I recommend using the channel(s) that best suite your particular business. However to keep the the ranking monkeys happy here is the industry list of social media channels ranked by use, and popularity.

Facebook has made an update to the News Feed algorithm that has been a long time coming. If you are like me, you are very tired of being asked to Like a photo to save a baby seal or seeing the same content over and over. This kind of content is NOT social media marketing. Thanks to the most recent Facebook News Feed algorithm update, spammy marketers will have their page content devalued. These people will undoubtedly be the most vocal when it comes to the reduced Reach conversation, but that is another blog post entirely. Before we dive into the changes, let’s revisit what makes the newsfeed algorithm tick. In short, the more engagement you get, the more people you will reach. If you want a more lengthy explanation, take a peek at this great graphic from TechCrunch

You might notice that this equation doesn’t include Negative Feedback which is another important aspect of the algorithm. The recent updates were actually developed by monitoring what triggers a Negative Feedback action and appear to be a step in the right direction when it comes to user experience. Here are the updates Facebook has made to stick it to spammy social marketers.

Frequently Circulated Content

If you are in the habit of just reposting what you have seen work for other pages on Facebook, stop what you are doing. The News Feed has been optimized to de-emphasize pages that publish content that has already been uploaded to Facebook over and over again. Early testing of this update has shown that people hide 10% fewer stories overall. Many marketers switched from content creating to content curating last year, however it looks like it’s time to think about switching back.

Spammy Links

With the explosion of publishing on Facebook came the rise of super spammy links. You know exactly which ones I am talking about. Spammy links feature misleading titles that prompt users to visit websites that promise awesome things like cute baby animals but then serve a website riddled with ads. By measuring how frequently users engage with the original post containing that link, Facebook is now able to better detect these spammy links. Early testing of this update has shown a 5% increase in people clicking on links that take them off of Facebook. This demonstrates that people are seeing more relevant and valuable content in their News Feeds. Be sure that your messaging about a link is accurate and engaging enough to get people to leave feedback.

Like-baiting

Like-baiting is pretty straight forward and we have all seen these posts. Any post that explicitly asks users to Like, Comment or Share the post in order to get further distribution is considered like-bait. It used to be social media best practice to include a call to action in each post. Well, it might be time to take a different approach. Facebook has made a change to better detect these posts and make sure that they aren’t shown more prominently over content from users’ friends or highly relevant pages. Facebook says that this update won’t impact pages that are genuinely trying to encourage discussion, only those pages that repeatedly ask for engagement. I would suggest that you don’t need to abandon this approach altogether, however few and far between might be the best bet.

So what have we learned? People don’t like spam in their News Feeds and neither does Facebook. These slight updates to the algorithm should hopefully make big impacts when it comes to user experience. How can you ensure that your Facebook content strategy isn’t considered spammy?

Do your best to start creating fresh content. Even if you see something that is working for another brand, try to recreate it with your own spin. As marketers we have to begin creating new stories and not just retelling old ones. I would recommend starting with a blog.

Make sure that the text and titles that accompany the links you publish are accurate. Bait and switch will no longer be effective.

Continue to encourage people to engage with your content, however do so with restraint. Great content doesn’t always need a call to action. People know what to do at this point.

Pinterest announced that they will be rolling out ads in the next quarter, great news right? Yes, but before you start putting together your next Pinterest Campaign, you might want to put together funding. Rumor has it that Pinterest will follow Twitters lead in pricing these promotions. So, what will entice brands to pony up? Pinterest hits that proverbial “sweet spot” demographically and is uniquely qualified for commerce integration.

Today, small business owners are busier than ever trying to run their companies while handling marketing and sales, too. An important part of marketing today is social media. For many small business owners, the world of social media is still foreign territory, and finding the perfect strategy that actually works can often be difficult.

So how do you know if what you’re doing is really hitting the mark? Here are 11 signs that your small business strategy isn’t working. If you’re doing any of the things on this list, chances are your strategy is falling flat and you’re missing prime opportunities to use social media to engage, inform and promote.

1. You delete negative posts.

Negative posts about your brand can be shocking, scary and hurtful. One of the key mistakes small business owners make is taking negative comments personally. Most often when you see a negative post about your brand, the person posting isn’t talking about you. They’re talking about your product or service. Instead of hitting the delete button when you see something negative, think of it as an opportunity to engage. But make sure that you directly address the negativity head-on. Don’t try to sugarcoat your response.

For example, if you own a delivery service and a customer makes a negative comment about your company because their package was late, don’t panic. Instead, let the person know that you will direct message (DM) them with a response and take care of the issue. Once the issue is resolved, go back to the original post and let your followers know you’ve handled it.

In 2011, a Harris survey looked at customers who posted negative reviewed during the Christmas season. The survey found that 68 percent of customers that left negative reviews got a response from the business they were reviewing. As a result, 18 percent of them became regular customers and made additional purchases. Of the customers who received a response from their negative post, 33 percent of them actually posted something positive after and a whopping 34 percent deleted the original negative post.

So don’t ignore negative posts. Deal with them directly, and you might just turn a negative into a positive!

2. You don’t have a solid company social media policy in place.

Most small businesses don’t have a formal social media policy in place. If you’re in that boat, you really should take the time to develop one. Think of it as a road map to helping your promote your brand better on social media. If you define procedures and protocols upfront for how often you’ll post, who will maintain the accounts and how you will handle negative posts, it makes it a lot easier to run your accounts and spring into action quickly when something goes wrong.

3. You’re on autopilot.

Most social media platforms have an automated message feature, but it doesn’t mean you have to use it. When many social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook were first introduced to the public, the automated message feature seemed like a convenient way to thank people who followed you. Today, automated messages are widely considered annoying and impersonal. Instead of sending the same message to every new follower, take the time to send personalized thanks when you can.

Remember, you don’t have to thank every follower, but it’s a good idea to thank those that stand out. For example, if you own a restaurant and the food columnist for your local newspaper starts following you, you may want to reach out directly to establish an ongoing dialogue rather than letting an automated message do it for you.

4. You’re not tracking what others say about your brand.

Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that consumers only post about them on their brand page. In reality, consumers post about brands everywhere — Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and review sites, to name a few. While it’s a great idea to monitor your own social media accounts to see what people are saying about you, it’s an even better idea move to using a social mention tracking tool to find out what people are posting about your brand around the Internet.

If you’re not updating your social media pages on a regular basis, you’re missing out. You don’t have to post multiple times a day, but you should at least make a few posts a week to keep your followers, who are essentially your customers, engaged and excited about your brand.

6. You don’t know the difference between a reply and a mention on Twitter.

Did you know that if someone posts something on Twitter and you start your response with @, you’re limiting the number of people who are going to see the reply? For example, if @customerx posted something about @xyzbusiness and that company starts their reply with @customerx, it will only be seen by the customer and the business. That’s a reply. To make sure it’s seen by all of your followers, add a period in front of it like this — .@customerx — to make it a mention.

7. You overuse hashtags in your posts.

Not every word in your post needs to have a hashtag. In fact, hashtagging every word is going to make your post harder to read. Instead, use hashtags sparingly. Try not to use more than three per post.

8. You don’t proofread your posts.

Grammatical errors make your posts hard to read and reflect poorly on your brand. Proofread everything you write before you post it.

9. You only share things related to your brand.

This is a cardinal sin of social media. Remember that your purpose is to engage and get to know your customers. Your brand isn’t the only one they follow, and it’s certainly not the only thing that is of interest to them. Be sure to spend some time browsing your customers’ page, find out what things they like and leave positive comments. This is an excellent way to foster lasting relationships with your customers online. It also shows your customers that you are interested in them, too.

10. You make it hard to retweet your content.

It’s a fact that Twitter gives you 140 characters to post, but it doesn’t mean you have to use all of them. In fact, you should leave about 20 or so characters that can be used by others who retweet your content for the “RT @customerx” that will automatically be part of the retweet. This makes it easier for people to share your content quickly with no hassles.

11. You don’t retweet your followers’ content.

While you definitely want to make it easy for others to retweet your content, you also have to spend some time doing a little retweeting yourself. Find content from your followers that you find interesting and take a minute or two to retweet it. Remember social media is a two-way street and engagement is the key to success.

To design and structure a Facebook sweepstakes that actually captures high quality leads, while generating positive sentiment and customer goodwill, you’ll need to advertise to the right audience, collect sufficient data on your entry form and give away a relevant prize. There are two main things to keep in mind:

1. Be Strategic About the Prize

If you want to qualify leads, you can pretty much forget prizes such as iPads and big screen televisions. In fact, if you think the prize you’ve chosen could make the sweepstakes go viral to a mass audience, avoid it!

What’s the matter with those prizes? It’s truly the fact that everyone wants them.

Even when you diligently target your sweepstakes ads to your ideal customer, people may share the sweepstakes with their friends which can introduce a lot of random entries in the sweepstakes. Then, when the sweepstakes is over, you have names, email addresses and other data but you still don’t know who wants your specific products and services. At that point, the audience you started advertising to may be more relevant than the audience you finish with. Who doesn’t want a free iPad or television?

For example, consider a spa that hires SalesBlend to run a sweepstakes and give away an iPad. We establish with the owner that we’ll advertise exclusively on Facebook to women 18+ in the interest category “Beauty” who live within 50 miles of San Diego where the spa is located. We use a fan-gated ShortStack app to get Likes and collect all the necessary data. When the sweepstakes is over, we tally 3,000 Likes and 500 email addresses in 30 days. The spa owner says “Wow!”

The numbers look good. But what should we name the new email list of sweepstakes entrants? Perhaps, “Anyone who wants to win an iPad enough to Like the spa’s Page and give up their email address.”

Is there really any reason to prefer marketing to the entrants than the women who didn’t enter the sweepstakes?

What if this list includes some of the women who didn’t enter?

• Women who spend $500 per month on spa treatment who already have an iPad

• Women who have some type of tablet already

• Women who can easily afford an iPad but are satisfied with their iPhone and laptop

• Women with lots of money but not a lot of time for sweepstakes

• Women who were reached but didn’t really see the ads or pay enough attention to them

• Women who were possibly biased against entering sweepstakes

• Women who didn’t properly estimate the chance of winning

• Women who didn’t recognize how attractive the prize was or the impact it could make in their lives

• Women who saw the ad but got distracted before entering the sweepstakes

Now let’s say that the prize is a sea salt exfoliating spa package which includes 30 guaranteed minutes of peace where a foot massage combines with cucumber slices on each eye and rainforest music. It’s a high margin offer that people already love and recommend consistently on Facebook and Yelp. It gives the winner a chance to experience the best the spa has to offer. In general, the spa has found that people who try the sea salt exfoliating spa package return to the spa 38 percent of the time within the following month.

I’m not saying everyone valuable will enter, but can you see how the act of someone entering a sweepstakes with this prize allows for the creation of a valuable business segment? Let’s title this segment “People who want the sea salt exfoliating spa package, have the means to get to the spa and the time to enjoy it.”

2. Collect Sufficient Data with Your Sweepstakes Entry Form

What can the specific behavior–entry into the sweepstakes—tell you about the sweepstakes entrant?

When people enter a sweepstakes, they know they will need to provide accurate contact information so they can be contacted if they win the prize. Adding one or more additional fields on your entry form can provide you with information that would otherwise be expensive to collect through traditional market research. Want to send all entrants a 20 percent off coupon for the exact same spa package on their next birthday? Ask for their date of birth on the entry form now.

Entering a sweepstakes is like clicking a “WANT” button

With careful prize selection, ad targeting and form structure, after the sweepstakes is over, you’ll know who in your target market wants your product. But remember, so far they’ve only said they wanted it when you were offering it for free to a lucky winner. Now you need to figure out what everyone’s actually willing to pay for it. It’s time to get strategic with your Facebook ads, email marketing and other promotions.

Sweepstakes help qualify leads because they can let you know who wants the specific product being offered as the prize. Therefore, entry in a sweepstakes can be a buying signal. It can also suggest there may be interest in purchasing similar products or each component in the prize.

In the case of the spa, we could try offering the past sweepstakes entrants other spa packages, stand-alone foot massages and stand-alone cucumber eye treatments. Possibly, they could even see a surge of rainforest music CD sales at the counter.

Every time SalesBlend has used ShortStack’s fan-gated apps, our clients have seen significant increases in Likes, engagement, email addresses and—they’ve received the ultimate prize: behavioral information that improves lead quality.

When you host Facebook contests how do you collect leads? Anything you’d add to this list?

Like this:

You don’t have to look far to find articles extolling the virtues of social signals and their growing importance. Why should you be interested and what benefits can social signals deliver for your SEO and marketing?

Typically on the internet social signals mean the amount of shares, likes or plus ones content receives or the number of followers a person has.

Why the interest in social signals?

Growth in social networks has led to a new form of content sharing. Previously people had to share links on their website or in forums. Now people can share easily by using share buttons and through social networks such as Twitter. They can effectively share content by simply liking it or giving it a plus one.

The interest in social signals is increasing because they can deliver SEO benefits; enhance brand awareness; and build trust and credibility.

Eric argues that Google previously had technical issues which limited the use of social signals as a ranking factor. However, he believes that while Google may not use social signals now they do intend to use them in the future. Even if they are not ranking factors at the current time social shares create inbound links and can deliver SEO benefits.

There is a debate about how much weight or impact social sharing should carry in SEO terms. A social share such as a Facebook like doesn’t require as much commitment as say placing a link on a website and hence there is a case to say it should carry less weight. There is also an argument that a share by someone who is an acknowledged expert in a topic area should count for more than a share by someone who is not an expert or has not authority in a topic area. There is evidence that Google is interested in the quality of authors and author rank which would allow it to give weight to social signals in the future.

There does appear to be a consensus that social signals will play a more important role in SEO in the future. Jayson DeMers recently posted an article about social signals and SEO on the MOZ blog where he stated:

“I do believe that direct and indirect impacts of social signals will eventually surpass links as the most valuable ranking factor.”

Brand awareness

The social sharing of content brings brand awareness benefits regardless of any SEO benefit. The original content gets amplified by sharing and will reach a much larger audience. This extended reach will in itself be beneficial.

Trust and credibility

Social signals are a human intervention which can act as an endorsement or recommendation. A social share may be accompanied by positive comments. Even though these recommendations may be from strangers, there is evidence that people trust such recommendations more than they do search engine results or ads.

The latest Neilson survey data on trust in various sources of buyer information found that the top three most trusted sources of information (% completely or somewhat trusting) were as follows:

Thus people trust social signals even though they may be from strangers. Dustin Stout sums up the trust issue as follows:

“Higher social signals illicit a higher level of authority, trust, and shareability. People trust what other people have trusted, and are more likely to share something that other people have shared. Period.”

Check and improve your social signals

At BuzzSumo we recognise that social signals will be increasingly important in the future.

You can use the BuzzSumo app to gain insights into the social signals in your area and improve your performance. You can:

search for the most shared content in your topic area

enter your domain to see what content on your site is being shared the most

This is a question that stumps those who are just going into business for themselves more often then not. I know that this does not directly relate to Social Media Marketing, however I thought it was a subject important enough to cover anyway…

I just reviewed an RFP for marketing services. It was a very detailed, well written RFP. And the client was asking for everything. Which is not a problem. Unless you have a limited budget.

Do you know how much marketing costs? How much should it cost? What should you pay for good advice when it comes to your marketing strategy?

I’ll try to unpack the answers to this complex question below. My answers lead to a few more questions, which I’ll have to address in future posts. Read on, and let me know what you think…

How much is a marketing plan?

Just the term “marketing plan” can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. Are you looking for a complete, strategic marketing plan, or do you just need a tactical plan or roadmap to guide your marketing programs for the next few months?

I know an independent consultant (not me) who charged a start-up $25,000 for a full-blown marketing plan. Did they pay too much? Maybe. That all depends on the results.

If you’re shopping for a marketing plan, consider this before opening your checkbook:

What do you hope to achieve with the plan?

Do you need help identifying the right customers, streamlining your product plans and developing competitive strategies? If so, you need someone who specializes in marketing strategy. Look for a consultant who has executive-level marketing experience that relates to your market or industry.

Expect to pay a few thousand dollars ($2,500-$15,000) for a project that will take several weeks or a few months. Plan to be actively involved, providing access to company and customer information and your business strategy. This effort may include customer research, competitive analysis and exploration of things like your sales process, customer relationships and technical capabilities.

Did you have something more basic in mind? Maybe you need help promoting an upcoming seminar, or launching a new service offering. In that case, a tactical plan is more in line with your needs. In fact, you may not even need a formal, plan document. Instead, a solid project plan with budget, timelines and deliverables may be enough.

You can engage a professional marketing consultant for this work, hire a freelance marketer or call on your agency for assistance. Depending on the scope of your project, an actionable marketing plan like this may run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars ($750 – $5,000), excluding implementation.

You want me to pay for that?

Don’t be surprised when the consultant or freelancer includes things like a marketing assessment, brand audit or competitive research in their proposal. Understanding the market environment you’re working in is critical to providing sound advice. Scrimp on the foundation, and your strategy will be shaky.

It pays to invest up front so your marketing partners have a strong base of knowledge about your business. This will actually save you money in the long run. A consultant that knows your business will be able to quickly spot trouble areas you might miss, helping you find solutions before you even realize there’s a problem brewing.

Other things that are worth paying for? Professional copywriting, skilled design, SEO analysis and customer feedback, to name a few.

What does a website cost?

This is a common question. I remember paying upwards of $50,000 for web work back in the mid-’90s, knowing I was getting a good deal. Thankfully, technology has become much more accessible, and the availability of exceptional web designers has expanded. (Of course, so has the number if not-so-qualified resources, so be careful.)

The price you pay for a website will depend on a number of factors. You can make your own for free if you’re really stretched, or have a small shop create a simple site based on WordPress to get you going. In fact, WordPress is a pretty powerful CMS (content management system) and many companies are moving to the platform as a viable option for easy to use, highly manageable websites.

Pricing for a basic site will start as low as $1995 and may reach $25,000 depending on size, design and functionality. Add more complexity, and you could be up to $30,000 or more.

What makes the price go up? Adding capabilities like these will cost extra:

An ecommerce shopping cart so you can sell merchandise or digital downloads online. From freeware like Zen Cart to more sophisticated solutions, getting the right people to work on your ecommerce capabilities can save a lot of headaches.

User interface design, UI or UX (user experience), focuses on the usability of your site and the ability of visitors to complete desired actions. If the objective of your site is to provide shopping, search or membership features, an investment in UX work can pay huge dividends in higher conversion rates and more engaged users.

Custom coding, like a specialized database application, image galleries, or recommendation engine. Thankfully, lots of these items have been packaged up as plug-in or third-party solutions that can be added to your site. However, there is a cost for integrating things like live chat, customer reviews and video capabilities.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – While you might think that web designers are experts at SEO, the fact is that most are not (just as many are not well versed in UX). You may need a separate SEO expert to work on your site, ideally partnering with your web team to build in search-friendly structure from the start. Ongoing SEO support starts about $2500/month and goes up, depending on the size and complexity of your site.

Isn’t social media free?

Sure, you can sign up for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and hundreds of other social media sites for free. But what is your time worth? As a business professional, you can easily step into social media quicksand if you are not careful about how you manage your time and social media presence.

Here are a few areas where you may want to hire social media help:

Social Media Strategy – What are your goals? Where will you invest your time on social media? What is your message? How can you monetize your social media efforts? Are you looking for a hard or soft return on investment (ROI)? A social media strategist can work with you to address these questions and formulate a plan that works for your business. The cost? Usually $500 and up.

Social Media Policies – Once you have a plan in place, you need to establish social media policies. These are guidelines for your staff that cover appropriate use, showing employees where they are empowered in social channels, and where they need to exercise caution. Well written policies can be priceless, so its worth investing $250 or more to have your own custom policy created.

Social Communications Calendar – When do you post on your bog? What goes on Facebook? How often should you tweet? What do you say? A communications calendar can help you plan social media content that aligns with your strategy, enabling staff to express your messages in the right way at the right time. Monthly management of your social communications plan may run $500/month or more.

Outsourced Engagement – Hiring someone to tweet and post on your behalf may sound good, but this is one area I advise clients to be cautious about. There are many risks if you outsource the voice of your business, and the cost to your reputation can be high when things go wrong. With that in mind, if you choose to outsource your tweeting, posting and blogging, hire someone you can work closely with to collaborate on plans and create content. You’ll pay upwards of $50/hour or $500+ a month.

Should I bring it in house?

Based on the prices listed above, you might be thinking that it’s smarter to hire staff to handle your marketing. This is a “yes and no” answer. For things like social engagement (tweeting, Facebook, blogging) I do recommend in house resources. No one knows your business like an employee and this is an area where tight control over content can be essential.

On the other hand, for things like strategy you are probably better off with an experienced consultant. Even if you have a marketing VP or CMO, the insight provided by an expert who brings a broader perspective can help alleviate what I call “marketing myopia.” You might just be too close to the situation to see everything you need to consider.

In these cases, a consultant can help you assess the market environment and plan strategies for success that your team can implement. If you need some additional assistance, hiring a virtual CMO or a contract marketer for a few months can provide the jump-start you need to accelerate your growth.

It’s cheaper to do it myself

DIY is a terrible malady. It can be a chronic disease for entrepreneurs. I know, I suffer from it myself. Whether you’re just starting a business or you’re simply trying to squeeze the most from every penny, it’s easy to think, “that’s easy, I can do it.” And you can. But will the results really be what your business deserves?

Do It Yourself marketing is often slow and slightly off target. It may be good, but usually it’s not great. And it comes with a huge opportunity cost. What would you be doing if you weren’t trying to figure out how to get your site to the top of the search engine rankings? Maybe you’d be closing new business or working on a new product idea.

Instead, there you are pulling your hair out, trying to do something you know you can do, but probably shouldn’t. Think about it…

If you loved writing copy, you would have been a copywriter.

If you were passionate about market research, you would have chosen that field.

And you would have been damn good, I’m sure.

But you didn’t.

So hire someone that did and reap the rewards of their passion and expertise. Then get back to running your business, which is what you do best, right?

Still stuck on the cost? Think about the value of your business. What will it take to realize the ROI of that project? Often, it’s as little as one new customer. Keep your perspective and spend strategically.

Social media contests are a great way to connect with consumers in the ever evolving web. Social networks are natural venues for users to share information quickly. Since I am a big fan of giving real world examples whenever I explain a specific tactic, I wanted to highlight a contest I found recently. I’ll walk you through how I would go about promoting it and how I might actually do it differently.

I would like to point out a few things here about this contest – first of all, they are not a client of Ignite Social Media and secondly, I don’t know what they’ve done to promote it so far.

Beneful Most Incredible Small Dog YouTube Video Contest

Before I get into promotion tactics I have to point out something that is extremely important, but that a lot of companies don’t do well.

Put Appropriate Keywords In Your Contest Name

If you implement a contest properly, people will be linking to your site. 9/10 times people will use your contest title as the anchor text, so make sure you take advantage of a well-thought-out contest title before you even start thinking about promotion.

In this example I would have used the following contest title: Beneful Dog Food YouTube Video Contest. Ranking for “Incredible Small Dog” is probably not going to amount to many sales of the Beneful dog food product line.

Host The Contest On Your Site

For the Small Dog Video Contest we are dealing with YouTube as the means for entry. As someone who understands the power of search, I am never a fan of hosting linkable assets off of my main site. It is also worth pointing that hosting a custom channel like they have rolled out on Youtube is not cheap. More often than not contests are very linkable. As I will outline later on it is relatively easy to drum up some press for your contest, and more than likely they will link to the destination of the contest, where it is hosted on your site.

I suggest hosting the contest on your site, and leveraging tags to aggregate YouTube videos.

That way, contestants are still using YouTube, which is widely established as the de facto video hosting source, and people are familiar with the interface.

Find People To Enter The Contest

Now that I have those two main issues out of the way, let’s explore how one might actually promote the contest. This can be the toughest aspect of contest marketing in my opinion, especially because videos have a high barrier of entry. That’s because videos are not easy to make and share when compared to other forms of online content creation.

Using the example above, we can utilize custom search queries inside of Google to help us identify dog owners who have channels on YouTube. This will help us target individuals who we know have created dog videos in the past. Then through some additional social searching we can identify some form of outreach, whether that is via email or other means, to let them know about the contest.

Submit Your Contest To Social Media Contest Sites

There are several well-known and emerging sources in the giveaway and contest market that are worth submitting your contest to. These sites will help you get additional coverage and should help drive entries into your contest, which is very important, after all. Below is a list in no particular order:

Summary

Contests are being widely adopted by many big brands currently and are the sort of tactic that even small to mid-sized businesses can implement with success. Since there is an influx of so many contests in the market, however, it can be difficult to cut through the similarities. Approaching contest marketing from the angles outlined above will help ensure success for your campaign. Do you have any additional tips to add? Have you run a successful social media contest?